Page 58 of Grand Escape

Rylan

“Bri, your drinks are up,” I said, trying to control the testiness in my voice. She was doing her best flirtation job with a bachelor party in the cabana closest to the bar, and my patience was wearing thin.

“Cool your jets,” she said as she swung by the bar, loading a bunch of margaritas on the rocks onto her tray. “I’m only having fun. There’s a party out in the West Bay tonight, some friend of those guys is hosting a casino night in his house. Want to go?”

I laughed out loud.

“Ha. Got you to laugh,” she said with a huge smile on her face.

Leaning on the bar, I asked, “What are you going on about?”

“You laughed. We’ve all been taking bets on how long it would take for your snarky self to return after Adam left, and you’re back. By the way, there’s no casino night. I totally made that up.”

Squinting at her, my eyes shooting daggers, I said, “Go take those drinks. That’s my hard work you have on that tray.”

As she turned to walk away, I shook my head at myself.

Here I was, three days after Adam left, hopelessly heartbroken. Who would have thought? And the worst part was that everyone knew.

I needed to gather the broken pieces of my heart, scoop them up, and glue them back together. Adam was a guest and I was an employee, and everything ended the way I’d wanted it to.

“Hellllooo, I’m looking for two seats in the partial shade. I want my legs to be warm but my face protected from the sun,” a woman called out from across the pool.

Her shrill voice was more annoying than nails on a chalkboard, a voice that said I get what I want. And sadly, it was a voice I knew all too well.

Touching my face, making sure my mirrored Ray-Bans were in place, I looked up. For the first time in well over a decade, I laid eyes on my mother.

Decked out in a floral sundress, an enormous floppy hat, and jewel-encrusted flip-flops, she walked the pool deck with Sergio, the pool manager, and surveyed the chairs. “I wish there was a cabana available,” she whined, and I imagined everyone in the entire pool area was already annoyed with her.

Sergio responded quietly, probably telling her that the cabanas were reserved. I wondered if my dad was with her, and why they were here. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

And then I saw him. Wearing Ferragamo loafers, a white golf shirt, and swim trunks, my dad looked every bit a wealthy Floridian.

“Tomorrow, we have one,” he called out to my mom. He pulled bills out of his billfold and handed them to Sergio as my mom pouted and pointed to two chairs under a tree.

As they moved toward their chairs, I let out a long breath. Why the heck were my parents here?

“Shit, Ry, I’m sorry, but I got that order wrong. My head is out of it today.” Brianna set the tray of margaritas back on the bar. “Totally my fault. They said chilled, so I thought they wanted them on the rocks, but they wanted frozen. Don’t be mad. Please?”

Taking a margarita off the tray, I saw it hadn’t been touched, my salted rim intact, so I tipped it back and took a long swig, the salt mixing with the lime flavor perfectly.

“I’m sorry,” Brianna said. “I didn’t mean to upset you this much. It’s my mistake.”

Realizing she thought I took a drink because of her, I raised my hand in the air. “Stop, Bri. I’m not mad. These things happen.”

I busied myself with pouring tequila into the blender and grabbing the other ingredients I needed to make frozen margaritas. Thankfully, I could make this drink in my sleep.

“You okay?” Brianna slipped under the counter and moved next to me. “I didn’t mean to make fun of you earlier. I know it’s been a tough few days. No one would begrudge you a day off.”

“You mean the idiot who fell for a guest?”

She briefly squeezed my shoulder. “Ry, it’s okay. You’re human. You have feelings. I know you like to act like you’re a robot, but you’re not.”

My hands stayed busy, flicking the blender on. “Want to know about feelings? Don’t turn quickly, but check out eleven o’clock by the pool, under the palm tree. See the rich bitch there?”

Brianna squinted at me. “I’ve never heard you talk this way before—”

“Because my parents never showed up before.”

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